Rulers Condemned in their Own Courts

Well, those of you that know me know I like to read, and I read my Bible in such a way that I read it existentially. I read it as if I'm in the narrative. And there was a point in time when I used to try to read regular books, and because I read books that way, I was reading Western books.

So as I was reading Western books, I was reading through the books of Exodus, and had a dream that Moses was riding across the plains with a shotgun on a horse. So I, at that point, decided it was no longer should I be reading any more other books, and I stuck strictly to the Scripture.

Harmonizing the Trials of Jesus

It's going to be very hard for you to follow me through the text tonight, and here's the reason why. What I have done when Keith asked that I want to preach two weeks ago, I says, oh, well, I know what I'll do.

I will harmonize the trials of Jesus, thinking it was going to be no big deal. Well, it wound up being some 80 verses. And sometimes you get through to Matthew in verse 38 and 39, and you have to insert a section of Mark, which is five or six verses, and then you move from there to John 18.

So if you, I will land at the last, I'm sorry, I will land in John 19, verses 1 through 18. That's where I will end. But I'm going to read the narrative, and I'm not going to make an exposition of the whole thing because time would not allow, but we are going to walk through the text.

And I normally come in with six pages of notes, and I'll let you know I got six pages of Scripture. So I will try to reel it in at some point. This is after Judas had betrayed and delivered the Savior over to the Roman soldiers and to the commanders in the office.

And here's where the text will start. It says, and the commander of the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. They led him to Annas first. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.

Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people. The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. And Jesus answered him and said, I have spoken openly into the world, and I have always taught in synagogues and in a temple and wherever the Jews had come together, and I spoke nothing in secret, so why do you question me?

Question those who heard what I said. Question those whom I spoke to, for they know what I said. And when he had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, is this a way that you would answer the high priest?

And Jesus answering to him, he said, if I have spoken wrongly, testify of what I have said that was wrong. But if I am right, why did you strike me? So Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.

Those who had seized Jesus led him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered themselves together. Now the chief priest and the whole council kept trying to obtain some type of false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death.

They could not find any, even though many fault witnesses had come forward. But later, two came forward, and they said, this man stated openly that I am to destroy the temple of God, and in three days I will rebuild it.

The high priest stood up, and he said, do you not answer? Do you not want to testify against those who are testifying against you? But Jesus kept silent. The high priest said to him, I adjourn you by the living God, and to tell us whether you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

And Jesus said, if I tell you, you would not believe. And if I was to ask you a question, you would not give me an answer. But from now on, this is what you will see. You will see the son of man seated at the right hand of the power of God on high.

And then they said to him, are you the son of God? And Jesus said to them, yes, I am. And then they said, what further need of testimony do we have? But you've heard it out of your own mouth. And the high priest tore his robes.

He said, you blasphemer. What further need of witnesses? Behold, you have heard it for yourself. He is blasphemed. And he looked around, and he said, what do you think? And they answered, he deserves death.

And they spat on his face. They beat him. They punched him with their fist. They slapped him. And then they said, prophesy to us, you Christ, which one of us just hit you? And then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium.

And it was early, and they themselves did not enter the praetorium, for they did not want to defile them, because they still wanted to eat at the Passover feast. Therefore Pilate went out to them and said, what accusation do you bring against this man?

And they answered and said to him, if this man was not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him to you. And they began to accuse him, saying, we found him misleading our nation, forbidding him to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that he himself is the Christ.

He is a king. So Pilate said to them, take him yourselves. Judge him according to your own law. And the Jews said to him, we are not permitted to put anyone to death. And this was said in order to fulfill the words which Jesus spoke, signifying what type of death he was going to die.

And then Pilate said to the chief priest, I find no guilt in this man. Therefore Pilate again entered into the praetorium. He summoned Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus answered and said, are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you this about me?

And Pilate answered and said to him, am I not a Jew? Am I? Your own nation and your own chief priest have delivered you to me. What have you done? So Pilate asked him, saying, are you the king of the Jews?

And he said to him, it is as you say. Jesus answered and said, my kingdom is not of this world. For if my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to you by the Jews.

But as my kingdom is not of this realm. Therefore Pilate said to him, so you are a king. And Jesus said to him, you have said correctly, I am a king. And for this very purpose, I have was born. And for this purpose, I have come into the world that I would testify of the truth.

And everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. And Pilate said to him, what is truth? And when he said this, he went out again to the Jews and he said, I want you to understand, I find no fault in him.

But they kept on insisting, saying, he stirs up the people. He's teaching it all over Judea. And he started it in Galilee and he's ended up here in this place. And when Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man was a Galilean.

And when he had learned that he was a Galilean and that he belonged under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod for Herod was in Jerusalem for the time of the feast. Now, Herod was exceedingly glad to see Jesus for when he had for he had wanted to see him for a very long time because he had been hearing about the wonderful things he had been done and he wanted to see a sign performed in front of him.

And he questioned Jesus at some length and Jesus answered him nothing. And the chief priest and the scribes were standing there and they kept accusing Jesus vehemently. And Herod with his soldiers, after treating him with great contempt and mocking him, they dressed him in a gorgeous robe, sent him back to Pilate.

Now, Herod and Pilate became great friends on that day to run to that point, they had been bitter enemies. Pilate then summoned the chief priest and the rulers of the people and said to him, said to them, you brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion and behold, having examined him before you, I find no guilt in this man regarding any charge that you have brought against him.

No, not even Herod has, for he has sent him back to me and behold, nothing deserving of death has been found in this man. Therefore, I will punish him and I will release him. It was at this time that Pilate was obliged to release one during the feast who would be a prisoner and they cried out to him altogether, away with this man, but release Barabbas.

Barabbas had been thrown into prison for insurrection within the city and he was a murderer and a robber. Pilate wanting to release Jesus addressed them again and they kept crying out all the more, crucify him, crucify him.

And he said once again, I have a custom in which I will release one person to you who is a prisoner at Passover, who do you want me to release to you for the king of the Jews? And they cried out again saying, we do not want this man, give us Barabbas.

Barabbas was a murderer and a robber. And he said the third time to them, why, what evil has this man done? And I have found no guilt demanding of death within him, therefore, I will punish him and I'm going to release Jesus.

Pilate then took Jesus, he scourged him, the soldiers then twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and put a purple robe on him and they began to come up to him and slap him in his face and say, hail, king of the Jews.

Pilate then come out again and he said to him, behold, I'm bringing out to you, bringing him out to you so that you may know, here it is again, I find no guilt in him. Jesus then came out wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe and Pilate said to him, behold the man.

So when the chief priest and the officer saw him, they cried out saying, crucify him, crucify him. And Pilate said, take him yourself and you crucify him for I find no guilt in this man. The Jews answered him, we have a law.

And by that law, he ought to die and he ought to die because he made himself out to be the son of God. And when Pilate heard this statement, he was terrified. He then entered the praetorium again and he said to Jesus, where are you from?

And Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, do you not speak to me? Do you not know I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you? And Jesus answered and said to him, you have no authority over me unless it had been given to you from my father above.

And for this reason, he who delivered me to you has the greater sin. And as a result of this, Pilate made great efforts to release Jesus. But the Jews cried out all the more, if you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar and everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.

Therefore, when Pilate heard these things, he brought Jesus out to them. He set him on the judgment seat at the place of the pavement in the Hebrew word called Gabbatha. So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, whom do you want me to release for you, Barabbas or Jesus, the one who is called the Christ?

And he knew that because of envy that the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees had delivered him over to him. And when he was sitting in the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message saying, have nothing to do with this righteous man, for I suffered great things and a dream over him.

But the chief priest and the elders persuaded the crowds all the more to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death. But Pilate said again to them, which of these two do you want me to release to you?

And they said, Barabbas. Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with this Jesus who is called the Christ? And they said again to him, crucify him. And he said, why, what evil has this man done? And they kept shouting all the more, crucify him.

And when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning to break out, he took water, he washed his hands in front of the people and said, I'm innocent of this man's blood, you see to it yourself.

Now it was a day of the preparation for the Passover and it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, behold your king. And they cried out, away with him and away with him, crucify him. And Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king?

And the chief priest answered and said to him, we have no king but Caesar. So Pilate then delivered him over to be crucified. Let's pray. Father God, thank you for your word. Thank you for that good Friday and what a good Friday it was.

Thank you for sending your son, father, completely innocent to bear the sins of his people. God be with me now. Keep me from error. I pray that the word of God would penetrate our hearts, called us to love you more.

And for those in this room that do not know you, God, I pray that they would be terrified in the wrath, seeing that what you did to your own son is what awaits those who do not believe. In your name we pray, amen.

Christianity as the Only Religion That Celebrates Its King’s Death

Christianity is an odd religion. Only religion in all the world that celebrates the death of their king. Here we are. There's churches all over the world right now meeting, celebrating the crucifixion of their king.

It seems somewhat morbid. You read through that and it is tough to just hear how many times the man who in all of history through the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed from the first century and second century has constantly said that he suffered under Pontius Pilate.

Eight times Pontius Pilate said, only you heard it. Eight times. I find no guilt in that man. You're going to see that these rulers of that time were condemned in their own courts. And we're going to begin where we were at with the high priest in the Sanhedrin.

Jesus was drug off, in chains bound, probably slapped around before he got there. And it says he entered Annas' house. Well, Annas, as you read through the narratives of those, you see it in some passages.

It says that Annas was the high priest and Caiaphas was the high priest. Annas had been deposed by Rome because he had put people to death without the consent of Rome. So, Rome deposed Annas and put Caiaphas in his place.

So, basically, you had two high priests. If there was an issue that was going on, they would go to Annas first. He was like High Priest Emeritus or something ridiculous like that. And he would be the first one they would talk to.

So, you see, they take him to Annas. He has nothing to say to him. So, they take him to Caiaphas. They are standing before the Sanhedrin. You do realize that he is standing before the very men that early in Jesus' ministry sent Nicodemus to them to say this to Jesus.

Came to him. He says, we know, we teachers know that you've been sent from God and you wouldn't be doing all the stuff that you're doing if God had not sent you. This is the same Sanhedrin that now desires to crush Jesus.

They'd planned to try, or wanted to, many attempts to try to kill him all through the Gospels. But if you were to read through your Bible, you get to John 7. You see, it really begins to escalate. John 7 takes place about six months before the actual event of the crucifixion.

And it's at the time when Jesus' brothers all mock him and say, hey, if you're going to be the Christ and you're this guy, why don't you make yourself known? And Jesus says, right now is not the time.

And it was called, at that time, it was the great temple. It was the great feast of the tabernacles. And Jesus says, y 'all go on and I'll catch up. But it was at that point that Jesus, halfway through the feast, stands up in the temple and cries out with a loud voice, you all want to kill me.

And people look around and go, this guy is crazy. This is the miracle guy. Who is he saying wants to kill him? And it's at that point that they then begin to seek Caiaphas, how am I going to be able to extinguish this man?

These are the people in which Jesus stands before. Jesus then says, hey, you've heard all my teaching, you've heard everything I've said. I've never said anything in private, I've not tried to raise up an insurrection against you.

Matter of fact, don't ask me what I said, why don't you ask everybody that I spoke to? Ask them. And not only ask them, bring them here and let them speak for themselves. What Jesus was actually doing, these were teachers of the law.

He was saying, hey, don't let me speak for myself, let whatever I've been said be confirmed by two or three witnesses. He was wanting the Mosaic law to stand on its own. And what did they do? No part of it.

And then one of them backhands the Savior. And they send him on his way. They get him to Caiaphas, false accusations are trying to be brought up. He tells the Lord Jesus of all things, he goes, I adjourn you under the living God.

Can you imagine saying that to the God of all creation? I adjourn you, you speak to me. And Jesus remains silent. But listen to what he says when he gets here. He says, the next time you see me, it's going to be in judgment.

It was sealed. Caiaphas, all those scribes and Pharisees, it was a done deal. They had rejected the Messiah. And he says this, and there's one question here, and they all asked, are you the son of God?

These are the final words they ever hear from Jesus, directed straight to them. Yes, I am. Muslims make all kinds of saying, Jesus never claimed to be God. It's right there. Jesus said, yes, I am. And then in a moment of grandstanding, what does the high priest do?

Tears his garments. As if he wasn't prepared to do that already. Like some grandstanding politician and lawyer. But then the abuse begins. He said, they spat on his face, they beat him, they slapped him, and they took him to Pilate.

Pilate's an obscure individual. We don't know much about Pilate. We wouldn't have known any archaeological evidence about Pilate up until about 1960. And there was a stone that was unearthed at Caesarea Maritima, which actually had his name on it.

And it says this was the place of Pontius Pilate, Pontificus, or something ridiculous like they say. And it was actually bringing to fact that not only does history have writings of him, but an actual archaeological artifact of who he was.

We would not know who Pontius Pilate was because he is, by and large, an insignificant figure if it was not for the Lord Jesus Christ. So they led him to Caiaphas. I'm from Caiaphas to the Praetorium.

The Praetorium was a place where the Romans would meet while they were in Jerusalem. Some people believe that was in Herod's palace. I don't believe that's where it was at at this particular time where they were meeting.

I believe it was in Fortress Antonia because we'll go on to read that Herod actually was in Jerusalem at the time. So he probably was not in Herod's palace with Herod. So he was probably at Fortress Antonia, which is on the northwest corner of the temple grounds, which is why Pilate was there.

He was there to overlook the temple complex so that during this great liberation feast of the Passover, there would not be an uprising. That's why he was there, to keep security. So they take Jesus to the Praetorium, and it says that they would not enter the Praetorium, speaking of the chief priests and the Pharisees, because they did not want to defile themselves.

That's very ironic that here it is. These people don't want to defile themselves by walking into where a goyim is, a Gentile, but here it is. They've got the biggest sinister plan to murder the Son of the living God.

And then Pilate says, what accusation do you bring against this man? And listen to the rank hypocrisy. Do you think we would bring someone who's an evildoer to you? They're accusing Pilate of accusing them for something they're actually doing.

It's like the rank hypocrisy. And they begin to say, well, we found him misleading the people, forbidding taxes. One, Jesus never misled the nation. He told them they had false shepherds, and they had false teachers, and to beware.

And a lot of times he told them, don't do what they do. Do what they say, because they did teach the law. It was just all the fencing in the law that they did that was erroneous. And he never said, do not pay taxes to Caesar.

Matter of fact, Tuesday of this very week, Jesus on the Temple Mount, they come to him and say, is it lawful to pay taxes? And Jesus said, show me a coin. And somebody had to cough up a coin, but I think it's really funny, is they had to cough up a coin, and somebody on the Temple Mount had a coin that had Tiberius Caesar's picture on it.

And he says, well, whose picture's on it? And it was Tiberius Caesar. He goes, then you pay him. Whose ever inscriptions on there? That's who you give it to. And then it said he made himself out to be a king.

And then Pilate says this to them, all right, that be the case. You take him, and you judge him according to your own law. It's right here that Pilate figures out that they don't want to just judge this man.

They want to kill him, because he says right here, well, we're not permitted to put anyone to death. When Rome would go in, and they would conquer all these nations and these other little providences, they would go in.

And the first thing that they would do before they put a prefect or a governor in there, is they would pull back the right of the sword and leave that only to Rome. That is actually why, remember a few minutes ago, I said, Annas was deposed, because he had enacted the death penalty on some Jews.

This is extra biblical writings. Had enacted the death penalty when he should not have. And Rome says, you don't do that. The right of the sword is left to us. So, he said, you judge him according to your law.

He said, we can't kill him, is basically what they said. And why wouldn't they kill him? It's not just because they don't want their hands dirty. And how do we know that's not because they don't want their hands dirty?

Because the next verse tells us, it was done this way, so that the way that Jesus prophesied he would die, it would happen. That's why. It says that Jesus would not be thrown down and stoned. It says that Jesus would be lifted up, not thrown down.

Pilate then says to the chief priest, here it is for the first time, he says, I find no guilt in this man. No guilt. And he goes on, he says, are you king of the Jews? So, he said, all right, Jesus, come in here.

Are you a king of the Jews? And Jesus didn't answer him. And he said, are you king of the Jews? And Jesus said, it is as you say. He says, did you learn that on your own? Or did someone tell you that?

Do you think that Pilate probably had heard about Jesus at this point? Sure. Well, you know, this is the first time he encountered Christ. But he had probably heard. I mean, it says back in, I think it's in the Gospel of Luke, that when he had raised to life the widow of Nain's son, you remember what happened?

It says, great fear went across the nation because they said that God had visited his people and it was in Judea. Well, who was the governor of Judea? Pilate. So, it is no doubt that it would have had to have known some knowledge that this man in a movement, he was the most, probably the most popular preacher and man going about Judea at that time for three years.

I mean, he was going around healing people. Whatever he did, he was going sometimes to heal a whole city. That word would get around. And that's something for us to consider. As Jesus asked him, did you learn that on your own or is it secondhand?

I ask you this. Do you believe in Jesus because it's been confirmed to you? Or do you believe in Jesus because it's secondhand knowledge? Do you believe because your husband wants you to believe? Do you believe because your wife wants you to believe?

Children, do you believe because mom and dad believe? Or has God confirmed it in your heart to believe? That is a question we should all ask. Why do you believe in Jesus? And who do you believe this Jesus is?

And then he says, so you are a king. And Jesus says, you're right. I am a king. And he said, if my kingdom were of this world, my people would come fight for me. Andy on Sunday touched on this when he talked about the misconception of the kingdom of God.

And the misconception was that Jesus was going to come or this messianic figure was going to come and he was going to set up a government and he was going to stamp out the heel of Rome with the heel of the Jew.

And the misconception was he is not coming as a military leader. And Jesus even says that right here. My kingdom is not of this world. If it were so, my people would fight for me. Jesus just hours before this rebuked Peter for pulling out a sword and whacking off Malchus's ear.

And then Jesus put his ear back on. What a miracle. Pardon me, wishes he'd whacked his head off and watch Jesus hit his head back on there. He could have done it. And then he says, what you have said is correct.

I am a king. And he says, for this very purpose, I was born. And for this purpose, I was sent. Right here, we see in that verse, Jesus was born. That's his humanity. People that come into this world are born.

We don't just come down on a time capsule. Neither did the Lord Jesus. He was born. He was a human being, flesh and blood. Got tired, weary, hungry, sweaty, nasty, dirty feet. But then he says, but for this very purpose, I was sent.

That means he came from somewhere else. He was born. There was a time in which Jesus became a man. But there was a time when he was not a man and he was nothing but God. But right here, he is fully God, fully man.

And he says, this is the purpose I come into the world, Pilate, to testify of the truth. Because everyone who hears the truth hears my voice. That's very reminiscent of what he said. Does my sheep hear my voice and they come to me?

People that love the truth, Jesus said, will come to me. They will come to me. And as he testified of the truth, they would come to him. And then you have Pilate say this, what is truth? That's a good question.

What is truth? Little did he know that the man in front of him was the very embodiment of everything that was true. And everything that was true came from the fountain of truth that was standing in front of him.

And I do believe at this point, and I am no Pilate sympathizer through this, so I just want you to understand. But I do believe at this point, Pilate's going, what is going on? What is true and what is false?

I have this man who's standing here with a demeanor who's already been beaten, slapped. Understand, you don't think Pilate has saw the swollen face? Not seeing probably the sweat that dried from the blood capillaries had gone down his face?

It says they spit on him. You don't think there was signs of hundreds of men with spit all over his body, his beard? And he's going, man, what is going on? And he says, what is truth? It's a question that we should all ask.

What is truth? Everybody in this world spends their life wanting to know what's truth. Because everything's fake news, fake this, fake that. Spend lives searching out what's true. Seeking false religions to find out that at the end of the day, all of them depend on you being good and nobody's good.

Spend hours and weeks on end, if you add them together, falling into the black hole of YouTube trying to find out what's true. Or get caught in the trap of TikTok and can't get out. Instead of picking up the word of God and reading it and seeing what's true and making decisions based on what is truth and what's error.

And then spend hours on end on video games, killing terrorists, playing games on Netflix. And then say you don't have time to read the word of God. You do have time to read God's word. It's true. You make time.

You make time. I'm a busy man. When I say that, I'm not tooting my own horn. I'm a busy man. I work bare minimum. My wife's here to testify at 70 hours a week. I make time to read the word of God. I can't put it down.

There was a time I took my Bible and went, tough time in my life. I'm gonna leave it be. I'm just in like a magnet every morning. Could not. That was the meaning of life. That's where I was gonna find how to get over the things in my life.

It was in that book that was gonna lead and guide me. So you do have time. So you ask what is truth? It's in the word of God and it will lead and guide you. And then Pilate goes out again and he said to them, I find no guilt in him.

Second time. They kept on insisting, stirs up the people. He teaches them all kinds of crazy stuff in Judea, but he started it in Galilee. And Pilate said, hold on a second. You said Galilee? Well, if he's a Galilean, I'll just send him to Herod.

Who's his governor? He's like, all right, here's the first tactical move. I'm sorry, the second tactical move of Pilate to not deal with the situation. First was you do it under your own law. They couldn't do it.

Now he's saying, well, I'll just send him down the road and let somebody else deal with Jesus. So he says, all right, well, if Herod's here, let's send him on to Herod. All right, well, let's see what Jesus has to say to Herod.

It says, Herod was very glad to see Jesus. That sounds like a good thing at the start, doesn't it? Man, this dude was glad to see Jesus. Well, just being glad to see Jesus doesn't make things good. It says he wanted to see him for a long time because he had been hearing great things about him and hoping he would see a great sign performed in front of him.

Herod wanted to see a trick. Herod wanted to see somebody raised from the dead. He wanted to see some magical sign. No, that's not what was going to take place. You understand that Herod had the preaching of John the Baptist in his life.

He not only had the preaching of John the Baptist whenever he wanted, it actually said he would get John and have him preach to him. So he liked hearing the word of God preached. But then not only that, his household manager, Cusa, actually his wife, Joanna, if you remember the Marys and all the ones that used to support Jesus with their money, Joanna was actually healed by Jesus.

So can you imagine that conversation? Here it is, dude doing whatever he's doing in his household, being his household manager, doing whatever he's doing. Hey man, how's your wife? Dude, you ain't gonna believe it.

Jesus healed her. So he knew that this man, Jesus, was the real deal. So he gets Jesus there and he wants a trick. Just like everybody else wants a trick. Everybody else wants to see somebody do something.

Jesus was no charlatan. Jesus was no miracle worker like you see on TV. He was no fake. We were in the paint store a number of years ago, came in early. That was one of the biggest stores in Jacksonville.

Everybody would meet there in the morning, kind of get all your stuff. And if painters needed to work, you could pick a couple up and go. And this guy was just going on, man, about, you know, he speaking in tongues and holding his hands like this.

Look at these hands. They got the power to heal. And he could tread on serpents and drink poison. And at that point, I could take it no more. I walked right over there. I grabbed some lacquer thinner off the counter and said, drink it.

Put your faith where your mouth is. Drink it. And he said, I'm not going to do that. OK. Well, you said you had the faith to move mountains. I want you to move all about blinds and shutters over there by Dunkin' Donuts.

He said, I can't do that. Wait a minute. You just stood here. And when I say there's probably 30 or 40 people in that store. I said, wait a minute. You just boasted about all this power that God had given you.

I said, all right. You said you had the power to heal. Let's get in my truck. You got the power to heal. I love to preach the gospel. We're going to go down there to Wilson's Hospital. And we're going to set all them kids free.

He said, I ain't going to jail. Buddy, I'll go to jail for that. And at that point, I got a little hot. I was angry. I said, you know why you won't? It's because you're a fake. That's why. Jesus standing before Herod and not doing anything.

Jesus is not a fake, man. Jesus was the real deal. But Jesus remained silent. He didn't say a word to Herod. Herod, at his birthday, had a party. Had a girl dance for him. Everybody was happy. Everybody was getting.

And Herod Antipas gives her a stripper proposition. And when I say she was dancing, they wasn't doing the Macarena. All right. They wasn't doing the electric boogaloo. He gives her a stripper proposition.

He says, you know what? I'll give you up to half the kingdom, whatever it is. And she comes back with a stripper request. I want the head of John the Baptist. And that coward who says the scripture says he loved John.